Gouverneur Bancorp in Gouverneur, N.Y., will soon have a new CEO. The $196.7 million-asset company said in a press release that Stephen Jefferies will also become president on Sept. 2. Jefferies, who was president and CEO of Community Bank & Trust in LaGrange, Ga., will succeed Charles Van Vleet Jr., who is retiring. Van Vleet, who is interim president and CEO, will remain at the company until the end of this

America’s Credit Unions will soon have a new leader. The trade association said in a press release that Scott Simpson will become its president and CEO on Nov. 3. Simpson, president and CEO of the California Credit Union League, Nevada’s Credit Unions, and Utah’s Credit Unions, will succeed Jim Nussle. He will be based in Washington. Simpson "brings a powerful blend of state and national advocacy experience, a strategic mindset,

AOD Federal Credit Union in Oxford, Ala., has agreed to buy a branch in Prattville, Ala., from Merchants & Farmers Bank of Greene County in Eutaw, Ala. The $442 million-asset credit union did not disclose how much it will pay the $123 million-asset bank for the branch. The deal also includes $15 million in deposits and $10 million in loans. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter.

Primis Financial in McLean, Va., lowered its second-quarter profit after downgrading three performing loans. The company disclosed in a regulatory filing that the changes reduced quarterly earnings by $6 million to $2.4 million. The changes stem from updated evaluations, including a $6.4 million commercial loan moved to “special mention,” a $30.7 million office property loan downgraded to “substandard accruing,” and a $40.1 million office property loan moved to “substandard nonaccrual.”

Protection Bank Holding in Protection, Kan., has applied with regulators to buy Haviland Bancshares in Haviland, Kan. The parent of the $96.8 million-asset Bank of Protection submitted its application with the Federal Reserve to buy the holding company for the $49.2 million-asset Haviland State Bank. The price hasn't been disclosed. Protection Bank Holding will also acquire Banco Insurance Agency as part of the deal.

First Financial in Cincinnati has agreed to buy BankFinancial in Burr Ridge, Ill. The $18.6 billion-asset First Financial said in a press release that it will pay $142 million in stock for the $1.4 billion-asset BankFinancial in a deal it nicknamed "Project Cockpit." The deal, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter, priced BankFinancial at 91% of its tangible book value. "We are excited to add consumer banking

The CEO of Carter Bankshares in Martinsville, Va., will undergo surgery to remove a growth in his abdomen. Litz Van Dyke informed employees of the surgery in a personal message included in a regulatory filing. Van Dyke said he began experiencing health changes that prompted consultations with physicians and a series of tests, which led to the diagnosis. While the procedure will require a couple of weeks of initial recovery,

Paxos, which issues PayPal's PYUSD stablecoin, has applied to convert its New York Department of Financial Services trust charter into a national trust charter under the supervision of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Paxos said in a press release that the move, if approved, would place it under federal oversight and "underscores its consistent commitment to maintain the highest regulatory standards of any blockchain infrastructure and tokenization